Constructing Matching Tests

Matching tests are excellent for testing the students’ knowledge of the relationship between two things. Notice the increasing level of difficulty in the examples that follow.

Test I

Directions: Write the letter of the person’s name in the blank. All selections will be used and each will be used only once.

___1. Developed the theory of relativity A. Isaac Newton

___2. First president of the U.S. B. N. Armstrong

___3. First man on the moon C. G. Washington

___4. Defined laws of motion D. Albert Einstein

Test II

Directions: Write the letter of the person’s name in the blank. Selections are used only once.

___1. Developed the theory of relativity A. Isaac Newton

___2. First president of the U.S. B. N. Armstrong

___3. First man on the moon C. Albert Einstein

___4. Defined laws of motion D. T. Edison

. E. G. Washington

Test III

Directions: Write the letter of the person’s name in the blank. Some may be used more than once or not at all.

___1. Developed the theory of relativity A. Isaac Newton

___2. First president of the U.S. B. N. Armstrong

___3. First man on the moon C. G. Washington

___4. Defined laws of motion D. Albert Einstein

___5. Developed the calculus E. T. Edison

Test IV

Directions: Write the letter of the person’s name in the blank. Some may be used more than once or not at all. Some blanks may be left unfilled, since no appropriate selection is given.

___1. Developed the theory of relativity A. Isaac Newton

___2. First president of the U. S. B. N. Armstrong

___3. First man on the moon C. G. Washington

___4. Defined laws of motion D. Albert Einstein

___5. Commanded the D Day invasion E. T. Edison

___6. Developed the calculus

Notice that in Test I, a student cannot get just one wrong. Also, a student knowing only three of the four answers would, nevertheless, get 100%. Test II corrects that problem. Guessing might still be fruitful in Test II, but Tests III and IV diminish the likelihood of a correct guess. Test IV goes a step further in evaluating the students’ familiarity with the material.

Matching Test Scoring

You can score matching tests from an entire class in about two minutes using the method shown in the picture above. When you make up your test sheet, put the blanks right up to the left edge of the paper. Stacking the papers in the staggered fashion shown allows you to score it by looking along all the blanks for question #1, then #2, and so on. Mark each wrong answer with a line through it then restack the papers, add up the number wrong, subtract from the total and put the score on each sheet.